House warmings are such fun to attend. Invariably everything isn’t quite in place yet, the host/hostess can’t find the glasses or the bottle opener; the person who was to bring the ice is stuck in traffic; decorations aren’t up yet… but this one I went to recently was much better put together. They even managed to keep this lit for a good … uh, 5 minutes? Pretty, no? And symbolic, I thought – beginnings, ends, all looping around each other.

Another post from Kochi – these are the Chinese Fishing Nets, or Cheenavala, so called because, well, the nets come from China. They work on a unique pulley system with rocks and are fixed on the shore. Reminded me of principles demonstrated by da Vinci (when he wasn’t being used to concoct random conspiracy theories about the descendents of Christ.)
This is a throwaway post. I had to share because it’s just as pretty as the picture 😉 Meanwhile, up the shore there are men who will cook the fish for you. I thought they were actually trying to come home with me along with the raw fish, I had no idea they were cooking them on the spot! 🙁

Really. All that loveliness with rose petals and other things like “chuawara” that I don’t know how to translate (are they dates?) beautifully laid out in a 2-foot-radius! Yes, we’re talking 4-feet of thaal with only sweet-paans.
The paan-wala said his meetha paans don’t get left over – they’re all “buy and sale” the same evening. (Colaba, Mumbai)

This one’s from Fort, Mumbai. (The area formerly known as the Kala Killa, I believe). The same fort had four gates and Churchgate is a hangover from that. Today, Fort is teeming with small shops selling electronics, dildos (yes!), “watche’s” (which must be the code name for the Isprit, ESPRET, SPRIT, Ralex and other fine variations I see there) and more for buy and sale 😉

So we all know that Malyalees get a raw deal when it comes to their agzent. I mean accent 😉 So at the risk of perpetuating that, I have to share these. this is the first of 3 from Fort Kochi. I don’t think you need more from me, I’ll exit gracefully and leave you to study the menu…

…you wake up with fleas? And what about the dog?
This is one of the things I totally love about Bombay. I’ve never seen it anywhere else. This is a daytime example of someone sharing his bedroll, perhaps unknowingly, with a four-legged friend.
But if you’ve driven past the homeless at night – near VT, Dadar, Worli naka, anywhere – you’ll see man, dog, cat, even a rat, sharing space, food, love.
I <3 it 🙂

Ok, sorry, another old post. I captured this on Carter Road’s Khau Gali.
We were then trying to figure out what the flavors could be.
I came up with “sickly sweet.” (And “passion in a cup”)
Kit, what was the one you came up with? Any other ideas for romantic flavors?